Ted Valentine’s tenure as a college basketball official has stretched from Jud Heathcote to Tom Izzo, from Lou Henson to Brad Underwood, from Matt Painter, freshman guard, to Matt Painter, veteran coach.
Over 34 years, he has garnered both respect and vitriol from Big Ten coaches, groans (and worse) from fans and accusations from all of playing to the cameras, thus the nickname “TV Teddy.”
“Let me tell you about the ‘TV Ted’ stuff,” Valentine said by phone. “Don’t mean nothing. Ted Valentine is always on TV, and they’ve got to attach a name somewhere. As I’ve gotten older, I laugh more, I smile more, I high-five kids. I have nothing to prove no more.”
Valentine, 60, has no plans to hang up his whistle. He will continue officiating in the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern and American Athletic conferences.
But the Big Ten, the conference with which he is most associated, opted not to offer him a contract for the 2018-19 season. Rick Boyages, who oversees the conference’s basketball officials, said at Big Ten media day that the conference typically uses 30 to 35 referees. Valentine will not be one of them.
Asked if the decision was due to the grading of his performance or Valentine’s reputation for theatrics, Boyages kept his remarks general: “We factor it all in.”
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